Windows 7 at Stanford
IT Services Recommendation
IT Services staff and others on campus have been beta testing this software for some months. Our testing indicates it is compatible with the wired and wireless networks, the Stanford Windows infrastructure, and the BigFix service.
Please review the software compatibility list, below. If you rely on one of the applications that is not yet fully compatible with Windows 7 you should hold off on upgrading or purchasing a new machine with Windows 7.
Administrative applications have not been certified to work with Windows 7. Anyone who uses these administrative applications as a key component of their work should not upgrade to Windows 7 or purchase a new machine with Windows 7 at this time.
Overview
Microsoft is expected to release a new desktop operating system, Windows 7, to general distribution on October 22, 2009. The new operating system reportedly offers reduced boot time, better overall performance, and increased and security. See Microsoft's Windows 7 Home page for more information.
Windows 7 is available in four versions:
- Home Premium
- Professional
- Enterprise
- Ultimate
The versions are differentiated by the features they provide. Home Premium marketed to the home user, Professional and Enterprise are marketed to the business user, and the Ultimate version includes every available feature in Windows 7.
Due to security concerns and incompatibility with our campus computing infrastructure IT Services will not be supporting the Home Premium version. The Stanford IT Help Desk will support Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate (without supporting Windows Media Center for home use).
Note on 64-bit versions of Windows 7: Most applications and services commonly used at Stanford will run under 64-bit versions of Windows 7. A noteworthy exception is the Admin VPN service. If your work requires you to use the Admin VPN, you should not purchase a computer running a 64-bit version of Windows.
System requirements
The minimum computer hardware requirements for running Windows 7, as recommended by Microsoft, are:
- 1 GHz or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
- 1 GB RAM (32-bit) or 2GB RAM (64-bit)
- 16 GB available disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
- DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver
There may be additional requirements to use certain features. See Microsoft's Windows 7 System Requirements page for the official list of system requirements.
To help you determine whether your computer can run Windows 7, Microsoft has created the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor. This utility analyzes your system and identifies possible compatibility problems with your hardware and software.
Note: You cannot do an in-place upgrade directly from Windows XP to Windows 7. Contact your local IT support person for assistance.
Obtaining Windows 7
Stanford faculty, staff, and students can purchase Windows 7 for Stanford-owned computers through the SmartMart catalog in iProcurement. Please see the Financial Activities web site for more information.
Those who wish to purchase a copy for personal use only can do so at the Stanford Bookstore. If your department has a Microsoft Campus Agreement, check with your desktop support staff to have Windows 7 installed on your workstation.
Software compatibility
Essential Stanford Software
Most Essential Stanford Software (ESS) applications work with Windows 7. The following list provides additional information about some of the ESS applications.
- Adobe Reader 8.x: Appears to work but it is not officially supported by the vendor. Version 9.x is verified as compatible. Additional testing is being done with the 8.x version needed for various administrative applications.
- SecureCRT/SecureFX: During testing these applications seemed to work. The vendor is preparing an official Windows 7–compatible version.
- Sophos: Not yet compatible with Windows 7. The vendor is expected to have a Windows 7–compatible version available by October 22, 2009.
Administrative Systems Applications (e.g., Oracle Financials, Peoplesoft/Axess)
Administrative Systems is in the process of testing its applications with Windows 7. Those who use Administrative Systems Applications should postpone upgrading to Windows 7 until the testing has been completed.
Other Applications
- Cisco VPN Client: Cisco released version 5.0.06.0110 of their VPN client to offer official Windows 7 compatibility. It is available at http://vpn.stanford.edu.
- SSL VPN Client: An update is expected soon from Juniper Networks that will provide support for both Windows 7 and Mac OS X 10.6. IT Services hopes to have the update tested and deployed during the Fall of 2009.
- iPass: The current release of iPass is not supported with Windows 7. iPass plan to release a compatible client in early 2010.
- OpenAFS for Windows: The OpenAFS developers have identified a problem with OpenAFS and Windows 7 that will occur if no network connection is present at startup. A bug has been filed with Microsoft on this.
- PGP: The current release of PGP Whole Disk Encryption is not supported with Windows 7.
- Microsoft Office 2007: Compatible with Windows 7; a new version of Microsoft Office is expected to be released next year.
